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{{short description|1973 Bangladeshi film by Ritwik Ghatak}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2019}}
{{for|the novel|Titas Ekti Nadir Naam (novel)}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Titas Ekti Nadir Naam
| image = Titash Ekti Nadir Naam DVD cover.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Ritwik Ghatak]]
| producer = N. M. Chowdhury Bacchu<br/>Habibur Rahman Khan<br/>Foyez Ahmed
| based_on = {{based on|''[[Titas Ekti Nadir Naam (novel)|Titas Ekti Nadir Naam]]''|[[Adwaita Mallabarman]]}}
| screenplay = Ritwik Ghatak
| starring = {{Plainlist|
* [[Rosy Samad]]
* [[Kabori Sarwar|Kabori Choudhury]]
* [[Rowshan Jamil]]
* [[Rani Sarkar]]
* Sufia Rustam
}}
| music = {{Plainlist|
* Ritwik Ghatak (music theme)
* Ustad Bahadur Khan
}}
| cinematography = [[Baby Islam]]
| editing = Basheer Hussain
| studio = Purbapran Kathachitra
| distributor =
| released = {{film date|df=y|1973|7|27}}
| runtime = 159 mins
| country = {{ubl|Bangladesh|India}}
| language = Bengali
| budget = {{BDTConvert|824|k|year=1973}}
| gross = {{BDTConvert|123|k|year=1973}}
}}

'''''Titash Ekti Nadir Naam''''',<ref>[[Bengali language|Bengali]]: তিতাস একটি নদীর নাম</ref> or '''''A River Called Titas''''', is a 1973 [[Bengali language]] film directed by [[Ritwik Ghatak]] and produced as a [[Indo-Bangladesh joint production|joint collaboration]] between India and Bangladesh. It is based on the 1956 novel [[Titas Ekti Nadir Naam (novel)|of the same name]] by [[Adwaita Mallabarman]]. Set in [[British Raj|pre-independence India]], the film follows the [[List of Scheduled Castes#West Bengal|Malo fishing community]] along the [[Titas River]]. After rescuing a woman abducted by river bandits, her decision to raise a child alone challenges the community’s rigid traditions surrounding marriage, motherhood, and social order.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=9781135943257 |editor-last=Rajadhyaksha |editor-first=Ashish |publication-date=July 10, 2014 |language=en |editor-last2=Willemen |editor-first2=Paul}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=TITASH EKTI NADIR NAAM (A RIVER CALLED TITASH) |url=https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/titash-ekti-nadir-naam/ |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=Festival de Cannes |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Das1995">{{cite book |author=Sisir Kumar Das |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sqBjpV9OzcsC&pg=PA299 |title=History of Indian Literature: 1911-1956, struggle for freedom : triumph and tragedy |date=1 January 1995 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-7201-798-9 |pages=299– |access-date=8 July 2012}}</ref><ref name="Schultz2007">{{cite book |author=Deanne Schultz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zd2CVhbGWNAC&pg=PA153 |title=Filmography of World History |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-313-32681-3 |pages=153– |access-date=8 July 2012}}</ref><ref name="A River Called Titus (1973)">{{cite web |author=Jason Buchanan |title=A River Called Titus (1973) |url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/371465/A-River-Called-Titus/overview |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130112621/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/371465/A-River-Called-Titus/overview |archive-date=30 January 2013 |access-date=3 August 2012 |work=[[The New York Times]] |department=Movies & TV Dept.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rajak |first=Sumit |date=2022-10-30 |title=Exploring Caste, Catastrophe and Civilization in Mallabarman’s Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (A River Called Titash) and its Film Adaptation |url=https://www.thecreativelauncher.com/index.php/tcl/article/view/1005 |journal=The Creative Launcher |language=en |volume=7 |issue=5 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.53032/tcl.2022.7.5.01 |issn=2455-6580|doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[Rosy Samad]], [[Golam Mustafa|Golam Mostafa]], [[Kabori]], [[Prabir Mitra]], and [[Rawshan Jamil|Roushan Jamil]] starred in lead roles.<ref name="star">[https://www.thedailystar.net/2004/06/11/d40611140373.htm Silver Jubilee, Bangladesh Film Archive celebrations, Events on the 2nd day], Ersahad Kamol, The Daily Star, 11 June 2004.</ref> Ghatak, then suffering from tuberculosis, saw his health decline during filming.

Along with [[Satyajit Ray]]'s ''[[Kanchenjungha]]'' (1962)<ref>{{cite web|title=An Interview with Satyajit Ray|year=1982|url=https://raylifeandwork.blogspot.com/2009/02/interview-with-satyajit-ray.html|access-date=24 May 2009}}</ref> and [[Mrinal Sen]]'s ''[[Calcutta 71]]'' (1972), ''Titas Ekti Nadir Naam'' ranks among the earliest examples of [[hyperlink cinema]]—featuring multiple protagonists in interwoven narrative threads, reminiscent of [[Jean Renoir]]'s ''[[The Rules of the Game]]'' (1939) and preceding [[Robert Altman]]'s ''[[Nashville (film)|Nashville]]'' (1975). In 2002, the film topped the list of 10 best Bangladeshi films in the audience and critics' polls by the [[British Film Institute]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2009-01-15|title=BFI {{!}} Features {{!}} South Asian Cinema {{!}} A Guide to South Asian Cinema {{!}} 50 essential South Asian films {{!}} Top 10 Bangladeshi Films|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/imagineasia/guide/poll/bangladesh/index.html|access-date=2021-04-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115123450/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/imagineasia/guide/poll/bangladesh/index.html |archive-date=15 January 2009 }}</ref>

==Plot==
A fisherman by the [[River Titas]], Kishore, marries a young girl, Rajar Jhi, on impulse when he visits a nearby village. After their wedding night, they head for Kishore's village on his boat the following night. Rajar Jhi is kidnapped on the way by bandits as the fishermen sleep but jumps into the river and is rescued by fishermen from another area. She is too ashamed to return to her home village, as they would suspect her of having been abandoned by or having deserted her husband. Unfortunately, she knows little about her husband, not even his name, though these were recorded in her home village. The only thing she remembers is the name of his village. Kishore in turn does not return for her as the shock of losing her has driven him mad and he assumes that the bandits have taken her to an unknown destination.

Ten years later, Rajar Jhi attempts with their son to find Kishore to give him a father. Some residents of his village refuse to share food with them because of imminent starvation but a young widow, Basanti, helps them. Later, it turns out that Kishore and Basanti were childhood lovers.

Director Ghatak appears in the film as a boatman, and Basanti's story is the first of several melodramatic tales.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-10-26|title=A River Called Titas (Titash Ekti Nadir Naam), PopMatters|url=https://www.popmatters.com/150191-a-river-called-titas-2495930547.html|access-date=2022-02-23|website=PopMatters|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/941478%7c0/Martin-Scorsese-s-World-Cinema-Project.html|title=Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project on Blu-Ray|website=Turner Classic Movies|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010152617/http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/941478%7c0/Martin-Scorsese-s-World-Cinema-Project.html|archive-date=10 October 2014}}</ref>

== Cast ==
* [[Rosy Samad]] as Basanti
* [[Kabori Sarwar|Kabori Choudhury]] as Rajar Jhi
* [[Rowshan Jamil]] as Basanti's mother
* [[Rani Sarkar]] as Munglee
* Sufia Rustam as Udaytara
* [[Prabir Mitra]] as Kishore
* Bonani Choudhury as Morol Ginni
* Chand as Subla
* Golam Mustafa as Ramprasad & Kader Milan
* [[Ritwik Ghatak]] as Tilak Chand
* Fakrul Hasan Bairagi as Nibaran Kundu
* Shafikul Islam as Ananta
* [[Chetana Das]]
* [[Farid Ali (actor)|Farid Ali]]
* [[Abul Hayat]]

==Reception==

===Critical response===
{{quote box
| quote = So, for Ghatak, it's like making a film on a civilisation. You cannot identify the theme of ''Titas''. When you want to say, "What is this film about?" It's impossible, it's so difficult. If you talk about one thing then you just sort of reduce the complexity of that work. So some people have looked at ''Titas'', especially some Western critics and this has been their kind of objection to Ghatak, that he's melodramatic. To my mind he's not melodramatic at all, I feel he is actually using melodrama only as a medium.
| source = [[Mani Kaul]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://scroll.in/reel/816540/mani-kaul-interview-on-ritwik-ghatak-is-a-lesson-in-appreciating-titas-ekti-nadir-naam-and-cinema|title=Mani Kaul interview on Ritwik Ghatak is a lesson in appreciating 'Titas Ekti Nadir Naam' and cinema|first=Nasreen Munni|last=Kabir|work=Scroll.in}}</ref>
| width = 250px
| salign = right
}}
Dennis Schwartz, who gave the film an "A" grade, wrote: "It's a passionate film made with great conviction, that features a marriage ceremony with the only sounds heard being the bride's heavy breathing. The pic is filled with traditional music, tribal customs, an abduction, a murder, a suicide, an insanity and starvation. In the end, it signals the demise of a long-standing culture because of various reasons, such as the inability to change with the times, the fractured nature of the village and their inability to deal with outside forces like money-lender schemers. It's a haunting and unforgettable film about the joys, anguish and rage of a community that was unable to survive. Ghatak clearly uses the story as a tragic analogy of what happened to the Bengali people as a result of the Partition of Bengal between British India and Pakistan in 1947."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/arivercalledtitas.htm|title=arivercalledtitas|website=homepages.sover.net|access-date=16 June 2019|archive-date=15 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215193109/http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/arivercalledtitas.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Christel Loar of [[Popmatters]] (who scored the film an 8 out of 10) writes that "in addition to using the river itself as a character, a metaphor, and a vehicle for the storytelling, another aspect of A River Called Titus is its references to Indian cultural and spiritual themes. Classical mythic imagery flows through the film on a course that parallels the river's, to a certain extent. Not coincidentally, the main relationships of Kishore, Basanti and Rajar Jhi mirror tales of the romantic life of [[Krishna|Krisha]] [sic], and the lovers' triangle he had with his wife, [[Rukmini]], and his lover, [[Radha]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/150191-a-river-called-titas-2495930547.html|title=A River Called Titas (Titas Ekti Nadir Naam)|date=26 October 2011|website=PopMatters}}</ref> Jordan Cronk of ''Slant'' called the film, in comparison to ''[[Dry Summer]]'', "less tightly coiled, more meditative, an appropriate approach for a film preoccupied with the existential concerns of a gallery of characters living along the shores of the film’s namesake river. Spanning an entire generation, the film utilizes its main character, Basanti, who endures a litany of tragedies and mundanities alike as she’s married off only to be sacrificed to nature’s unforgiving advancement, as a symbol for countless victims of Bangladesh’s [[partition of India|partition era]], when the division of India and Pakistan left thousands of people impoverished."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/martin-scorseses-world-cinema-project/|title=Blu-ray Review: Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project on the Criterion Collection|first=Jordan|last=Cronk|magazine=Slant Magazine}}</ref> [[Adrian Martin (film critic)|Adrian Martin]], scoring the film four-and-a-half stars out of 5, labelled the film a "pure melodrama". "He makes use of cultural archetypes familiar to the broadest Indian audience, such as the suffering mother, the wise (or crazy) old man of the village, the local gossips, the blushing, virginal bride" he writes, "and then twists narrative conventions, both subtly and provocatively. The film is, in line with Ghatak’s [[Brechtian]] orientation, a broken, deliberately disjointed melodrama, arranged in two starkly distinct halves, and gives itself the freedom to hop from one character’s story thread to another’s — an uncommon technique in world cinema of the time." He called Ghatak's "film language every bit as sophisticated and restless as that of [[Jean-Luc Godard]] or [[Lynne Ramsay]]. Ghatak was a poet of rupture."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmcritic.com.au/reviews/r/river_called_titas.html|title=A River Called Titas|website=www.filmcritic.com.au}}</ref>

Conversely, Mike D'Angelo of The A.V. Club, who gave the film a "C−", called it "clumsily melodramatic tale of the fallout that occurs after bandits kidnap a pregnant bride...Leaping forward in time without signposts and continually wandering off on pointless digressions, the film is somehow both overly plotted (coincidences and conveniences abound) and dramatically shapeless, with its lauded anticipation of “hyperlink” cinema—abrupt shifts in focus from one character to another—often coming across as random. What’s more, Ghatak has enormous difficulty simply establishing a coherent tone; the story’s most tragic moment is so broadly played that it threatens to inspire laughter rather than anguish." Despite this, he lauded its "breathtaking black-and-white images on the banks of the titular river" and recommended ''[[Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960 film)|Meghe Dhaka Tara]]'', "his consensus masterpiece", as a better introduction to his filmography.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/martin-scorsese-s-world-cinema-project-is-uneven-but-il-1798179091|title=Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project is uneven but illuminating|first=Mike|last=D'Angelo|website=Film|date=8 January 2014 }}</ref>

=== Screenings in different festivals ===
* 2017: Ritwik Ghatak Retrospective UK, at Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland, UK, Programme curated by Sanghita Sen, Department of Film Studies, St Andrews University, UK <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/films/ritwik-ghatak |title=What's on at DCA |access-date=30 April 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506041452/http://www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/films/ritwik-ghatak |archive-date=6 May 2017 }}</ref>

=== Accolades ===
In 2007, ''A River Called Titas'' topped the list of 10 best [[Cinema of Bangladesh|Bangladeshi films]], as chosen in the audience and critics' polls conducted by the [[British Film Institute]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/imagineasia/guide/poll/bangladesh/index.html|title=Top 10 Bangladeshi films|publisher=British Film Institute|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527232052/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/imagineasia/guide/poll/bangladesh/index.html|archive-date=27 May 2007|access-date=9 January 2014}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0070809}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=524051}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2990-a-river-called-titas-river-of-no-return ''A River Called Titas: River of No Return''] an essay by [[Adrian Martin (film critic)|Adrian Martin]] at the [[Criterion Collection]]

{{Ritwik Ghatak}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Titas Ekti Nadir Naam}}
[[Category:1973 films]]
[[Category:1973 drama films]]
[[Category:Bengali-language Indian films]]
[[Category:Bengali-language Bangladeshi films]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi drama films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ritwik Ghatak]]
[[Category:Hyperlink films]]
[[Category:1973 Bengali-language films]]
[[Category:Indian drama films]]

Titash Ekti Nadir Naam - Revision history

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